Book Review: Killman Creek

Killman Creek picks up where Stillhouse Lake ends. Resolved, but not. However, this time Gwen Proctor isn’t on the run as much as she is on the hunt.

In an effort to review this book without giving away spoilers from Stillhouse Lake, I’ll say this: The pacing is just as satisfying and the stakes are just as high, but the plausibility loses a little steam.

In Stillhouse Lake, we learn that Gwen Proctor and her children, Lanny and Connor, are in hiding after it was discovered that Gwen’s husband was a serial killer. Authorities suspected that Gwen served as his accomplice, which is what prompted stalking and internet harassment from the general public. Once acquitted, Gwen changed their identities and ran, settling for a time in the fictional town of Stillhouse Lake, right outside Knoxville, Tennessee. However, her ex-husband was still at work, doing what he could to ruin her life from inside a jail cell.

So what’s new in Killman Creek? There’s been a jail break. Instead of waiting for the attack, Gwen goes on the offense to ruin her ex-husband for good – to kill him – but that means leaving her kids somewhere safe and trusting those who’ve vow to help her.

Again, the pacing and stakes in Killman Creek are just as good as they were in Stillhouse Lake, but about halfway through the book I struggled to believe the story would even go this far. I mean, how nuts does one have to be to go to these lengths?